5.  The applicant was born in 1967 and lives in Vladikavkaz. She is an entrepreneur who trades in reusable glass bottles. She used a trailer parked in a yard near her house to store those bottles.
6.  On 16 October 2002 a Mr B. delivered glass bottles to the applicant. The delivery documents indicate that there were 34,000 bottles in total. He left the bottles packed in plastic bags in the yard near her house. The bags were loaded into the trailer by two people, Mr V.M. and Mr G.M.
7.  On 17 October 2002 representatives of the municipality’s administration and the police impounded the applicant’s trailer on account of her failure to obtain a parking permit for it. The trailer was moved to an unsecured storage area for impounded property. No inventory of the trailer’s contents was made. The applicant was not present during the removal. She was later informed that her property would be released to her once she had paid the towing and storage charges.
8.  Subsequently, the applicant found her trailer almost empty except for some broken glass. Those in charge of the storage area indicated that the bottles could have been stolen.
9.  On 21 March 2003 the applicant brought an action for damages against the Prefecture of the Severo-Zapadniy Circuit of Vladikavkaz (“the prefecture”) on account of the loss of the bottles. The applicant argued that the loss of her property had resulted from the authorities’ negligence.
10.  On 26 February 2004 the Justice of the Peace of Court Circuit no. 27 (Severo-Zapadniy Circuit) considered the applicant’s claim on the merits. The Justice of the Peace decided to hold the hearing in the absence of counsel for the prefecture, who had been duly notified of the date and time of the hearing and who chose not to attend. The Justice of the Peace allowed the claim and awarded the applicant 49,000 Russian roubles (RUB). The judgment came into force on 11 March 2004 and on 23 March 2004 the justice of the peace issued a writ of execution.
11.  On 12 May 2004 the Justice of the Peace granted the prefecture leave to appeal. On 28 May 2004 the Sovetskiy District Court of Vladikavkasz upheld the decision of 12 May on appeal.
12.  On 18 June 2004 the District Court quashed the judgment of 26 February 2004 and dismissed the applicant’s claim, noting that (1) the applicant had failed to furnish sufficient evidence to substantiate her allegations as to the exact number of bottles stored in the trailer and (2) the prefecture’s decision to seize the applicant’s trailer with the bottles in it had been lawful.
13.  The court noted that none of the witnesses questioned, including Mr V.M. and Mr G.M., who had loaded the bottles into the trailer, Mr G., an employee of the storage area, and Mr D., a policeman who had been present during the removal of the trailer, could specify the exact number of bottles stored in the trailer. They merely stated that the trailer had been completely packed with bottles. Besides, the court established, after measuring the volume of the trailer and that of a plastic bag containing fifty bottles, that the trailer’s capacity could not exceed 555 bags, whereas the applicant claimed that there had been 680 bags in the trailer.